Rotary valve.



PATENTED JUNE 27, 1905.

G. R. ELLIGTT.

ROTARY VALVE.

APPLIGATION FILED JAN. 6, 1902.

WiL/hesse@ f@ om Patented June 2'?, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

(HLBICR'I R. ELLIOTT, OF BOSTON, MASSACIIUSE'FIS.

ROTARY VALVE.

SPECIFICATION forming' part of' Letters latent No. 793,287, dated June27, 1905 Application filed January 6, 1902. Serial N0. 88,569.

Re it known that I, (wrrienn'r R. Illumina', a subject of the King' ofGreat Britain, and a resident of the city of Boston, in the county ofSuffolk, State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Rotary Valves, of which the following' is a full, clear,and exact description.

The object of this invention is the construction of an improved valvefor use in connection with comparatively low power double engines, andparticularly for engines designed to run steam automobiles, launches,Sac.

Referring' to the drawings vforming' part of this specification, Fig'm'e1 is a central longitudinal horizontal section of my valve complete.Fig'. 2 is a cross-section thereof on the line X X in Fig'. 1. Fig. 3 isa cross-section of the same on the line Y Y in Fig'. 1. Fig'. a is acrosssection on the line Z Z in Fig'. 1. Fig'. 5 is a perspective viewof the slotted shell comprising' a part of the valve; and Fig'. 1S is anend elevation, on a much smaller scale, of the double-engine cylindershaving' my valve formed as a part thereof.

The casing' 1 of this valve is cylindrical in contour and closed at itsends by caps or heads 2, suitably bolted thereto, thc casing', theposts, and the cylinders 6 T being' of a sing'le integral casting'.

Fitting' steam-tight within the casing' is the slotted shell or cut-offvalve 3l), adapted to be revolved or adjusted by means of the lever 42,the shaft i() passing' through the boss 5 of the left-hand head Q, andthe forks or clutch 41, the ends of whose prongs enter suitable holes 3in the end of the shell 30, as shown in Fig's. 1 and Said lever being'fixed on said shaft, any swing imparted to said lever moves said shellin a corresponding' manner.

Live steam is introduced within the valve throug'h the tube 15,entering' at the under side of the casing' 1 and having' its extremityreaching' throug'h a slot 31 in the shell 30. Other slots in said shellare stopped or terminated by bars or uncut parts of the shellconstituting' the various cut-ofi' valves, as more fully set forthhereinafter.

Fitting' steam-tight within the shell or cutotl' valve 31) are the maininlet-valves 21,mounted upon the shaft 2() and revolved by the lattersynchronously with the shaft driven by the double engine. A shaft 27,geared to said shaft Q by equal bevel-gears 26 and also to the drive-shaft by similar g'ears, is my preferable means for thus rotating'the main inletvalves. .lt will be noticed that the shaft 2() hasits onlybearing' in the boss 3of the rig'hthand head 2, terminating' at itsopposite end at the point at which it passes throug'h the left-hand maininlet-valve. Hence although the casing' viewed externally appears tohave a sing'le shaft passing' entirely throug'h it yet theshaft-sections at the two ends are wholly separate and perform differentwork.

In Fig'. 1 the two drums 0r inlet-valves Z1 are shown differently, theleft-hand one being' in section, while the other is not. Inconstruction, however, they are pl'eeisely alike, their only differencebeing' that one is lixed on the shaft .20 at an ang'le of forty-[ivedegrees in advance of the other. Each drum or main inlet-valve 21 isVformed with a central web or partition Q5, separating' the drum intotwo parts, and also serving' to mount the same upon the shaft 20.'lhroug'h each drum are two ports or slots 23 2st on opposite sides ofthe partition Q5, but otherwise diametrically opposite. These slots Iprefer to term the l valve-ports.

As shown in Fig'. 1, the cylinder-ports `10, which are Vfour in numberand extend to the respective ends of the. two cylinders, each branchinto two mouths through the casing', l

one coming' into the plane of the valve-ports 23 and the other to thevalve-ports 21. These mouths are designated by the reference-numerals 11and 12 and are hereinafter referred to as the cylinder-ports.7

The slots 34 throug'h the shell 30 are near the ends of the latter andin the same transverse planes with the cylinder-ports 11 and thevalve-ports 23. Each said slot is nearly a semicircle in extent, asshown in Fig's. 2 and 5, the uncut portions constituting' the cut-olfblocks or cut-off valves while the walls of said slots serve to preventthe escape of steam in a direction parallel with the shaft Q1). In thesame manner the slots 32 extend in the same planes with the ports 12 and2a, but are IOO shorter than the slots 34 in order to have the broaderthan the blocks 35 for the purpose hereinafter set forth.

The operation of my valve is as follows: The live steam enters throughthe pipe or tube 15 and fills the entire space within the twoapproximate sections of the drums 21. The drums being in motion, theinstant a valveport 24 comes out from behind a cut-off block 33 thesteam rushes through such port and the cylinder-port 12 in communicationtherewith, the How continuing until the valve-port has passed behind theopposite cut-off block 33. The steam thus admitted to one end of acylinder forces the piston-head 3 along the cylinder in the well-knownmanner. Coincident with the steam admission when the valveport 24 movesfrom beneath a cut-off block 33 the exhaust valve-port 23 passes frombeneath a cut-off block 35, and so permits the exhaust-steam to flowfrom the opposite end of the cylinder into the casing-head and fromthence through the exhaust-pipes 16. In the same manner the steam flowsin turn through all the valve-ports and keeps the engine in continuousaction.

As above set forth, the cut-off blocks 33 are much broader than theblocks 35. The object of this is to cutoff the admission of steam to thecylinders at three-fifths stroke, and so to work expansively, the blocks35 being made only just wide enough to properly cushion the terminationof the piston-heads stroke.

Inasmuch as the steam is admitted between the two drums 21, itslongitudinal pressure is perfectly balanced between their two partitions25, held rigidly together by the shaft 20. The main inlet-valves beingthus perfectly balanced, practically no power is required for turningthem or retaining them in place longitudinally. For this latter purposethe bevel-gears 26 are fully sufiicient. Further, since the live steamis admitted to the center of the casing only, while the exhaust alone isin contact with its heads, there is no need for any packing for theshafts 2O 40 where they pass through the said heads. This not only savesconsiderable expense, but all the friction between such packing and theshafts.

In addition to the function of admitting steam within the valveperformed by the slot 31 in the shell 30 I cause it to serve, inconjunction with the inward ly-protruding end-of the pipe 15, the workof keeping said shell from end play and also that of limiting therotative adjustment of the shell. The prevention of end play isperformed by having' said pipe end of substantially the same diameter asthe width of the slot 31, while the limiting of the turn of the shell isobtained by the contactingof the ends of said slot with said projectingend. The importance of the latter particular arises from the fact of mylocating the edges of the cut-ofil blocks eX- actly in line with thevertjcal centers of the widened cylinder-ports, as shown in Figs. 2 and3 and set forth in my Patent No. 676,179. Whenever the cut-off valve orshell 30 is shifted in order to reverse the engine, it is essential tobring it to rest with the cut-o blocks in exactly the positions quoted,and this is done by the contact of the pipe 15 with an end of the slot31. In the control of this engine I use the lever 42 for performing thework of stopping', starting, reversing, and slowing up, as follows: Bymoving said lever to bring the cut-off blocks 'wholly over thecylinder-ports 24, access of steam to the cylinders is cut o and theengine stopped. By moving said parts until said blocks only partiallyclose the cylinder-ports, the engine is slowed down, while a throw clearover, reverses the engine. This one feature alone renders my valveespecially valuable for steam-automobiles, where the reduction of numberof levers and parts to manipulate is exceedingly essential.

As shown in the drawings, the valve-casing is located below theengine-cylinders, and the cylinder-ports 10 open directly down from theunder side of the cylinders to the valve, thereby giving a cleardrainage for the water of condensation from the cylinders to the valve.Moreover, the exhaust-pipes 16 open vertically downward from the underside of the valve-casing, and so continue such drainage out from thevalve. To thus have the exhaust-pipes drain from the valve it isnecessary to have them open from the under periphery of the casing. Inorder to shorten as much as possible the part of the casing which mustbe accurately bored and ground for the reception of the shell 30 andstill give room for the exhaust-pipes 16, I prefer to make the heads 2cup-shaped, as shown in Fig. 1, and tap said pipes into the peripheriesof said heads.

Although I have described Figs. 2 and 3 as sectional views on the linesX X and Y Y in Fig. 1, yet said views differ from sections on the linesX. X Y' Y' in Fig. 1 only in a slightlyadvanced position of thevalve-ports 23 24 in the main inlet-valve or drum 21.

As shown in Fig. 1, the bevel-gear 26 serves not only to rotate theshaft 20, but to retain the same and the drums 21 thereon from end play.This is done by the contact of the gear on the shaft 21 against the boss3 for one direction and for the other by the pressure of the two gearsagainst each other.

Vhat I claim as my invention, and for which I desire Letters Patent, isas follows, to wit:

1. A multicylinder-engine constructed with a valve-casing common to allthe cylinders, a rotary main inlet-valve for each cylinder locatedwithin said casing and rigidly united, a slotted sleeve or cut-off valvesurrounding said main inlet-valves within said casing, cut- IOO IOS

ofll blocks carried by said cut-off valve or sleeve, external means forrotatively adjusting said sleeve, and means for admitting live steamthrough said casing' and sleeve between each pair of main inlet-Valves,and exhausting' from the opposite end of each said valve, substantiallyas described.

2. lncombination,adouble-cylinderengine, a valve-casing common to bothcylinders, heads closing' the ends of said easing', a shaft havinglbearings in one of said heads and terminating` at one end in saidcasing, means for the rotation of said shaft joining' the external endthereof to the drive-shaft of the engine, two main inlet-valves fixed onsaid shaft, a slotted shell or cut-off' valve between said maininlet-valves and casing', means for admitting live steam between theadjoining ends of said main inletvalves, exhaust-pipes from the ends ofsaid casing', a short shaft penetrating the head opposite to thatreceivingl the main inlet-valve shaft, an external lever fixed on saidshort shaft, and means joining; said short shaft to said shell orent-off valve. substantially as described.

I. ln combination, two engine-cylinders, a cylind rical casing' havingports communicating,` therewith, a rotary main inlet-valve within saidcasing, a cut-off' valve between the main inlet-valve and casing', meansfor admitting steam to the interior of said casing, a eupshaped headsecured to each end of the easing', and exhaust-pipes opening' radiallyfrom the peripheries of said heads, sulistantially as described.

I. In combination, a horizontal double-cylinder eng'inc, a valve-casingcommon to both cylinders and located beneath the same, a rotary maininlet-valve for each cylinder within said casing, means Vfor theadmission of live steam between said main inlet-valves, andexhaust-pipes opening from the under side of said casing; near its ends,substantially as described.

Incombination,adouble-cylinderengine, a cylindrical valve-casingcommonto both cylinders, an axially-arrang'ed shaft in said casing havin meansfor its rotation, two main inletvalves fixed on said shaft and eachconsisting of a drum having' a central web or partition and thediametrically opposite ports at opposite sides of said partition; and ashell fitting between said casing, and main inlet-valves, said shellbeing suitably slotted to admit steam through it between said maininlet-valves, and to constitute the cut-off valves, substantially asdescribed.

6. In a rotary valve, the combination of the cylindrical casing' havingthe cylinder-ports, the rotary main inlet-valve, the shell slotted toconstitute the cut-off valve and to admit live steam, and the steam-pipeentering radially said casing; and the live-steam slot in said shell;said slot and pipe end beingmutually arranged to accurately limit themovement of said shell when turned to reverse the engine, substantiallyas described.

7. In a rotary valve, the combination with the casing, of the maininlet-valve revoluble within the same, the slotted shell located betweensaid main inlet-valve and casing, a short shaft revoluble at an end ofsaid casino; and having' external means Vfor its rotation, and a clutchmember fixed on the inner end of said shaft and consistingpof the forksor prongs engaging' suitable apertures in said shell, substantially asdescribed.

8. In a rotary valve for double engines, the combination with thecasing' and the main inlet-valves, of the cut-off valves comprising' theshell having' the central steam-admitting' slot 3f, the exhaust-slots 34and the narrow cutoff blocks 35, and the intake-slots 32 and broadcut-off blocks 33, substantially as described.

9. In a rotary valve, the combination of the valve-easing', the cut-offvalve comprising),- the slotted shell, the main inlet-valve within saidshell, the shaft Vfor rotating said main inletvalve, a bearing at oneend of the casing `for said shaft, a bevel-,gear fixed on said shaftexterior to the casing', and another bevel-gear meshingT with the firstand transmitting' power thereto from any suitable source, saidbevelg'ears servingto prevent end play of said valve, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony that Vl claim the foregoing' invention I have hereunto setmy hand this 13th day of December, 1901.

GILBERT H. ELLIOIT.

Iitnessesz A. B. Ummm, FRANK A. Smi'ru.

